Paranoidangel's Blog

Entries tagged with not prime time

For the past nearly-two weeks my life has been all about the tennis. And I could write loads about it here, but I won't, because I have a couple of other things to write about, and because most people probably don't want to know quite that much detail. But I am writing this while watching the wheelchair men's doubles final.

I've Never Seen Star Wars
Last week I worked out what I was doing for July, since I could fit it around the tennis, I just hadn't got around to posting it, for tennis reasons. I am re-learning French, using Duolingo and other apps. I did five years of it at school and I was generally not that great, I was in the bottom set (of two) for GCSE and then somehow I came out with an A and wanted to do more of it. So I did French for Scientists at uni, which was two hours a week for 25 weeks.

I know an awful lot of people use/have used Duolingo, but I also have Memrise and Lingvist on my iPod, that have been sitting there doing nothing. So I am using all three and at the end of the month I will report back.

Not Prime Time
I'm glad I didn't sign up for this, as it went live earlier this week and authors have been revealed and I haven't fitted in reading any of it in between. But I did write for it:Leading Lady (1621 words) by paranoidangel
Fandom: Star Trek: The Next Generation
Rating: General Audiences
Relationships: Beverly Crusher/William Riker
Characters: Beverly Crusher, William Riker, Deanna Troi
Additional Tags: Acting, Theatre, Kissing
Summary: Beverly is having regrets about playing the leading role opposite Will.

When browsing through the requests I came across the Riker/Crusher one and I didn't care much for it. But I read the prompt because I was curious and resistate made a great case for them deserving friends with benefits. So much so that I really wanted to write it. I was going to write it for a treat, but wasn't sure how to make me do it - but then it came up as a pinch hit right after assignments going out and I snapped it up. I really enjoyed writing these two so much that I want to write them again (along with all the other things I want to write, and Unconventional Courtship that I need to write after Wimbledon and the Para-athletics are over).

First, I'm now going to Rock Choir this term. This is because ballet was cancelled for the term (long story), so I thought I'd replace it with Rock Choir. Whether I carry on after this term depends on what happens with choir, because I'd like to only go out two nights a week and having them both be choirs is a bit much. But I enjoyed this week more than last week. Partly because I knew what to expect, but I also ended up sitting at the back, rather than the front, which was a different experience. And it was less repetitive since we went over the song we learnt most of last week, then learnt the bits we'd skipped, which were the hard bits.

Then this weekend I bought a new computer. I was planning to because mine is very slow. There are websites, which if I want to visit them, I open them up, then go away and do something else while they load, it's that slow. But I was planning on getting it after Wimbledon, when things stop for summer. But I randomly checked on the one I wanted and it was a third off, so I got it. I am, in fact, typing this on it. Although in a terrible Firefox because I haven't copied over my settings yet, and the resolution on this computer means I keep having to zoom into websites. And that's after I dropped the resolution - it was originally 3200x1600 and I needed a magnifying glass to see anything.

And I had to install Linux twice because 500GB and 500MB are very hard to tell apart when it's written in bytes.

But those websites that took so long on my old computer open instantly on this one. Mind you, I don't have any add-ons in Firefox yet, slowing it down...

And then, for the first time ever, I picked up a pinch hit for Not Prime Time. I'd read been reading through the requests while sign ups for open and there were a few I liked the idea of writing for, one in particular I really wanted to write. The trouble with not having a deadline is that I don't prioritise writing and instead do the other 1001 things I need to do. So as much as I wanted to write a treat I knew it probably wasn't going to happen. But there wasn't anything I really wanted to receive. So I was very excited when I found the request I really liked was a pinch hit. It was the first time I've ever put in for one and now it's all mine!

I have some ideas, they're just percolating before I write it. The deadline I don't need to write down because it's the start of Wimbledon...

I'm so behind on everything I should be doing. I meant to get some stuff done this week and didn't. And then thought I'd get it done around the tennis, but there one of Friday's matches was on Saturday and now it's too hot to do anything. I do at least have a clean house (after not cleaning it for five weeks it was awful).

So I'll get to one of the things on my list and talk about what I wrote and received for Not Prime Time.

And I wrote an Enterprise fic - my first proper one (the only other one is a Farscape crossover drabble).Fire to the Finish (2076 words) by paranoidangel
Fandom: Star Trek: Enterprise
Characters: Jonathan Archer, Malcolm Reed
Summary: Archer and Reed take part in a race.

I saw the request for this in a letter and almost took one of the characters off my offer because I hadn't considered writing those two characters with each other. But then I realised that one of the things I like about exchange ficathons is writing something I wouldn't usually, and then I really wanted this assignment. My recipient wanted slash, which wasn't going to happen, but they were happy with friendship, so I wrote that and put in some bits that hopefully can be read as pre-slash, if nothing else, with the right rose-tinted glasses on.

Thank you for writing a story for me. The optional details are optional. I've just tried to give you some ideas of what I might like to see, but if none of them are your thing feel free to disregard them. They are just ideas for people who find it easier to write something when given a prompt. I've requested characters I find particularly interesting in each fandom, so I will be happy with anything featuring them. Feel free to write other characters in the fandoms too - I like all the other characters in these fandoms too. Just because I've waffled more about some fandoms than others doesn't mean I want it more - I want these all as much as each other, I just waffle more about some than others.

General things I like:
- Stories that explore the relationships between characters
- Stories that explore characters
- Scenes/fic that is like it could be (part of) an episode
- Stories that make me happy or make me laugh or make me cry
- Fun stuff that leaves me feeling happy
- Swordfighting

General things I dislike:
- Sex scenes, so nothing over PG-13 please - generally sticking to the tone and details of sex/humour/peril etc of the original is good
- British people using Americanisms and American people using Briticisms
- Relationships other than those in canon (except when I've specified otherwise in my prompts) - but you can never go wrong with gen
- Non canon (permanent) character death

I am picky about crossovers and AUs (other than canon divergence) in these fandoms, and there's not a pattern I can articulate what I like and don't like. So if you have a great idea for one, it's probably going to be best to get the mods to ask me about it.

I wrote this two months ago and posted it a month ago, coming up with a title at the last minute (as per usual). When the archive opened I went into it and thought I'd see what other Doctor Who stories were in there. I wasn't logged in at the time and I thought someone else had also written an Ian/Barbara story and worried about why mine wasn't there. Then I looked at the summary and realised it sounded familiar. This is one of the reasons why I especially don't like anonymous ficathons.

After the first few months of this year I realised I had posted something every month, so I wanted to try and keep that up. It'll get harder towards the end of the year, but this was July's fic. The rest of the ones I have for this year are:

I was all excited about Not Prime Time, which is a ficathon for fandoms too big for Yuletide, but not really massive. That was, until after I signed up, when I realised there wasn't anything I wanted that much. Well, there was one, but you can't ask for three fandoms in the hopes of getting one prompt in one of them. And there's nothing to stop me writing that one thing myself.

Then the more I thought about it, the more I didn't want to write to a deadline for someone else. It's easier to write for me because I know what I already like. And although deadlines make me get on and actually write, when things get busy and I'm close to the deadline, then I seize up and can't do anything. I don't like pressure.

I ended up deleting my sign up before the deadline. All the requests are visible, so I may end up writing something. Or I may not. But this way, I have a choice. And I'm liking having that choice.

I saw my Yuletide assignment when I woke up yesterday. I matched on two of the fandoms, so it's even harder to decide what to write. But since I've spent the weekend recovering from Harry Potter on Friday (and I have some other things to write first) it can wait.

There's another round of intoabar starting up. Much as I like it I don't think I have the time to write it. Plus I'm not really in the mood for writing random crossovers at the moment.

(I currently have dw_remix going on, and would be writing something for dw_50ficathon if my head had less cotton wool in it this weekend.)

Mind you, I've been thinking of next year's ficathons already. Friday made me think of a Harry Potter prompt I'd like for fic_corner and I realised that if Blake's 7 is too big for Yuletide that makes it Not Prime Time sized.

Now that the authors have been revealed in Not Prime Time I have posted what I wrote to my website and I can reveal that it is a Fourth Doctor, Sarah and Harry adventure: Votes for Women.

Just before sign-ups on this I was thinking to myself that I'd love a Fourth Doctor, Sarah and Harry adventure fic and then I was assigned someone who wanted that too (and picked Harry as their character). It should have been so easy to write, but I struggled for no reason that I can find.

The setting, as the title tells you, is the early 20th century because back in February I'd read Emmeline Pankhurst's book, My Own Story, which was a really interesting book to read and I thought it was something I could make use of. Plus my initial reaction to putting Harry into a time of Women's Issues seemed funny, although I'm sure he'd agree that they should have the vote, he's not quite that bad after all.

When I finally came to write the first draft it was the end of May and there was quite a bit in the media about Emily Wilding Davison, so it seemed like the perfect thing to be writing.

There are two characters in it I want to talk about the naming of, but can't do so without spoiling the ending, so I'll put that behind a more link.

There are a few things I thought about talking about, but none of them really merit a whole post, so this is a post of little bits.

Diana Rigg is on Doctor Who next week! I am very excited. I might have to get my Avengers DVDs out and work out which episodes I haven't seen. Edit: Her daughter Rachael Stirling is also in it. Which meant nothing to me until Dad pointed out that she was the girl in Boy Meets Girl, and she was really good in that.

After thinking about giving up on Blockbuster they finally sent me The Bill series 2. Of the four episodes on it, it was the end of episode 3 that made me think I'd seen it before and halfway through episode four when I knew I'd seen it before. But I have no idea if I've seen the rest of series 2, so I'll just carry on (if they'll send it to me).

It's really annoying that it was so nice in the week and then the weather's been so crap this weekend.

I have my assignment for Not Prime Time. Not sure what I'm going to write yet, but I'm spending the week percolating it in my brain before I start. I have until Wimbledon to finish, which seems like it's a long way away, but it's really not that far.

I am totally counting this for today's NaBloPoMo entry. Aside from the prompts it is a copy of my last Dear Yuletide Writer letter and is for Not Prime Time (npt-admin) which is a Yuletide-like ficathon for fandoms too big for Yuletide, but not massive.

Dear Not Prime Time Writer,

Thank you for writing a story for me. The optional details are optional. I've just tried to give you some ideas of what I might like to see, but if none of them are your thing feel free to disregard them. I am sure I will love anything you write with the character(s) I've requested. Feel free to use any other characters you'd like - there are none that I dislike in any of these fandoms.

What I like:
- Stories that explore the relationships between characters
- Stories that explore characters
- Scenes/fic that is like it could be (part of) an episode

What I dislike:
- Sex scenes, so nothing over PG-13 please
- British people using Americanisms and American people using Briticisms
- Relationships other than those in canon (and the exceptions noted in my optional details) - but you can never go wrong with gen

I know there are two Doctor Who-related fandoms on this list. Don't think that I'd like one of those more than the other two - I want each of these requests equally. Same goes for the amount I've written for the optional details - writing more doesn't mean that I want it more.

I meant to write this post last week, but then I got busy at work, I got more tired, left it for the weekend and then it was too hot to be using computers.

While the Olympics was on, not_primetime went live. It was supposed to go live during Wimbledon* but got put back. It meant that I had no idea what I'd asked for, so it took me a while to find my fic. Somehow I did manage to find time to read the fics in the collection, once the Olympic swimming and tennis had finished.

The one I wrote is Lost For Words, which is Sarah-centric with the Third and Fourth Doctors. When I wrote it I kept thinking of all sorts of things I could say about writing it based on the prompt I got. But I wrote it in May/June and consequently can't remember any of it.

The next ficathon to go live is shipswap which handily goes live during the Paralympics. And swimming lasts the whole of the Paralympics, as does the US Open. So reading the fics might have to wait until after the authors are revealed and the sporting events for the summer are over. Not to mention the summer, where did it go?

Thank you for writing a story for me. The optional details are optional. I've just tried to give you some ideas of what I might like to see, but if none of them are your thing feel free to disregard them. I am sure I will love anything you write with the character(s) I've requested. Feel free to use any other characters you'd like - there are none that I dislike in any of these fandoms.

What I like:
- Stories that explore the relationships between characters
- Stories that explore characters
- Scenes/fic that is like it could be (part of) an episode

What I dislike:
- Sex scenes, so nothing over PG-13 please
- British people using Americanisms and American people using Briticisms
- Relationships other than those in canon - but you can never go wrong with gen

I know there are two Doctor Who-related fandoms on this list. Don't think that I'd like one of those more than the other two - I want each of these requests equally.

This week has mostly consisted of rain. And the fun yesterday of tipping out the puddle of water collected in my bin because the binmen persist in leaving the lid open after they've emptied them. And the even more fun of spending five minutes on Wednesday morning trying to get the garage door open long enough to get inside. How it eventually stayed open long enough to get the car out (and closed once I had) I don't know. But after that my car had to spend a couple of nights outside in the rain because there's only so many times I can do that.

I've also been reading Remix stories. I'd entirely forgotten what mine was, I finished it so long ago. Now I've been reminded about it I want to talk about it, but can't do that until the authors are revealed tomorrow/Monday. But someone remixed a Doctor Who/SJA crossover fic I wrote last year as New Horizons (the Doctor in the House Remix). It's got a whole load of great Sky characterisation in it. And I really want to know who wrote it and whether some of the references in it were because they know me, they read the fandoms list on my website or coincidence.

I have also been working on the second draft of my Big Bang fic. After I wrote the first draft I realised the plot makes no sense and it's not spaced out well at all. So I spent time re-working it, with tables to work out who does what in response to what. Hopefully, when I finish the second draft and read it through it won't be too bad and I'll just need to go back and sort out the words, rather than the plot. Not least because I'm also intending to sign up for not-primetime/not_primetime and the deadline is Wimbledon. My deadline for myself for getting my Big Bang to beta is Wimbledon. Which really isn't that far away...